Jack Del Rio: No idea we were drafting Blaine Gabbert

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001...ne-gabbert


Eight years after a fateful draft night trade, former Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio shares the story from the draft room that night and how he didn't even know they were moving up.

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What a complete bust.

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What a complete bust.

JDR wasn't that bad.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

What a complete bust.

JDR wasn't that bad.

He's not, but he's also not very good. He's basically Jeff Fisher, minus the long tenure at Tennessee. None of our head coaching choices were that bad, it was the management of personnel that has crippled this franchise, all the way back to Coughlin it has been this way. Shack wasn't terrible either, but he simply could not hit on 1st rounders.

edit : Gene Smith was the absolute worst thing to ever happen to this franchise period. He ruined this team for a decade. The fact he had 0 input from his head coach is absolutely asinine and makes me wonder how Gene ever even got the job. TC trolled Wayne Weaver when he told him Gene was the next great GM lol.

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I gained much respect for JDR after he left. It was then I realized how much he had been doing with very little.

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I gained much respect for JDR after he left. It was then I realized how much he had been doing with very little.

This. 

And for the guy who said he was Jeff Fisher; an argument can be made but in JDRs defense he never had a truly elite QB. Garrard was a nice placeholder, but as the article said he got “surprised” with Gabbert, and tied to Leftwich early in his career. Not an ideal coaching tenure

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They made JDR go out on camera and "act" like he was excited by Gene Smith draft choices. Guy should win an Oscar for selling Reggie Williams and Matt Jones as franchise excitement picks.

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The Khan Years

Patience, Persistence, and Piss Poor General Managers.

When Shack Harris was sent packing, and Gene took over, Jack was excited because he felt like it would allow him to have a bigger voice in personnell decisions. Sounds like that didn't work out as well as he'd hoped.

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Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Feels like the team was run by a bunch of incompetent schmucks at the end of the Weavers tenure.

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Feels like the team was run by a bunch of incompetent schmucks at the end of the Weavers tenure.

Let’s not forget Gus Bradley during the Khan era. It got to the point that I couldn’t stand the sight of that guy. Which is a shame because I heard nothing but good things about his character. But as a head coach, ugh!

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Feels like the team was run by a bunch of incompetent schmucks at the end of the Weavers tenure.

Let’s not forget Gus Bradley during the Khan era. It got to the point that I couldn’t stand the sight of that guy. Which is a shame because I heard nothing but good things about his character. But as a head coach, ugh!

Interestingly, the two are inexorably connected. 

The worst head coach we've endured inherited the worst roster (and its subsequent implosion) from the worst GM we've endured. 

Had Gene not left the team so bereft of talent Gus may not have failed in such miserable fashion. 

(Also interesting that Caldwell has since expressed some regret at blowing up that roster to the wide reaching extent he did.)

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Feels like the team was run by a bunch of incompetent schmucks at the end of the Weavers tenure.

Let’s not forget Gus Bradley during the Khan era. It got to the point that I couldn’t stand the sight of that guy. Which is a shame because I heard nothing but good things about his character. But as a head coach, ugh!

Gus was a great guy to talk to. Flew back from the DR with him and his Wife. Really chatty and personable. 

Snuck a peek at what he was watching on his laptop...The Office. No wonder we sucked. 

I thought at the time we fired Del Rio to early. Look at the carousel since then.

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Lets also not forget that Del Rio started Leftwich over Brunell

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Lets also not forget that Del Rio started Leftwich over Brunell

Mark Brunell was only a backup after that... his time was done once he lost the wheels.

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Lets also not forget that Del Rio started Leftwich over Brunell

Mark Brunell was only a backup after that... his time was done once he lost the wheels.

He had some success with Washington

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What a complete bust.

JDR wasn't that bad.

Aside from the whole mess with the ax in the locker room, he was a solid coach. Players liked him and played hard for him, even as Shack kept loading the roster with mediocre talent and blowing first-round picks on guys like Derrick Harvey, Reggie Williams and Matt Jones. He lost the team when he suddenly went hardcore hardass in 2009, culminating in suspending Mike Peterson and eventually running the team's defensive leader off.

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Lets also not forget that Del Rio started Leftwich over Brunell

And then Cut Lefty to start Garrard, and then cut Garrard and started McCown, who gave way to Gabbert, the QB he knew wasn't good enough for the first round pick?

I like Jack, I do... but the Del Rio boys have some takes that certainly make me go hmm.

Like, oh really Jack, 8 years later you think Gabbert was trash and you never wanted him.
Also... I wonder how he felt about the QB situation in Oakland?

People talking about all the stuff they would have done different from a decade ago is some serious eye rolling stuff man.

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When Shack Harris was sent packing, and Gene took over, Jack was excited because he felt like it would allow him to have a bigger voice in personnell decisions. Sounds like that didn't work out as well as he'd hoped.

Yeah, I recall Shack and JDR both being excited about Matt Jones, but it seemed like most years when they were together, they wanted different players but Shack would get his way. At least Shack's round two picks were gold. 

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Lets also not forget that Del Rio started Leftwich over Brunell

Mark Brunell was only a backup after that... his time was done once he lost the wheels.

Indeed, when JDR made that call is was absolutely the right call. Leftwich had several gifts as a QB. The Jaguars should have built around him better by providing him with optimal protection. I bet Leftwich would have done just fine with the kind of protection Tom Brady has had over the years. 

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'02

JDRs tenure here is brought into sharp focus by his quote in that article:

"...He wasn't a guy to trade and go up to get him ... So that was not part of coaching, that was not part of me...."

Even now, it's not his fault. If I remember correctly, a big issue that the players had with him was failure was never his fault, only the success.

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

JDR wasn't that bad.

Aside from the whole mess with the ax in the locker room, he was a solid coach. Players liked him and played hard for him, even as Shack kept loading the roster with mediocre talent and blowing first-round picks on guys like Derrick Harvey, Reggie Williams and Matt Jones. He lost the team when he suddenly went hardcore hardass in 2009, culminating in suspending Mike Peterson and eventually running the team's defensive leader off.

Well said, and I remember it vividly. Del Rio couldn't handle losing the 0-6 Bengals and way overreacted taking it out on their best player. Mike P is easily the best LB the Jaguars have ever had. You know Marrone would have handled that so much better. 

What I recall from that game more than anything was how hard the Bengals were playing. That was not a good team on paper, but I don't think I've ever seen a team want it more. Every last player on the field for the Bengals played his heart out, and I feel like JDR missed that. It's not like the Jaguars played crappy as much as the Bengals players wanted it more.

It's most telling when you look at the Jaguars W-L record. The Jaguars won a lot of games until that fateful day. They lost a lot of games since, and are only recently, as of 2017, getting back on track.

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'02